Saturday, July 08, 2006

Insurance these days is a lucerative business after government of India opened up this sector for private operations. However on the consumer side, the proposer is expected to disclose all materials particularly about any ailments before being insured, any suppression of material facts by the proposer would make the insurance void.My client's husband who worked for the railways, was transferred from one place to the other. He in order to influence the higher ups and get the transfer cancelled and as a protest the transfer, proceeded on medical leave showing as if he suffered due to Jaundice. He had then taken an insurance cover and was paying the premia regularly. Within about a year, he died of heart attack, but sadly the insurance company refused to pay the insurance amount to my client on the ground that her husband had suppressed the fact of a pre existing disease of Jaundice. The consumer foura also agreed with the company :(

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The Madras High Court has within its premises a High Court Museum whihch was opened recently (after my previous post).Unlike the other museums where one find work of art, old records photographs and furniture tracing the 140 and odd years of the High Court is kept in display.I recommend anyone comming this way to drop by it is worth a visit in the city of Chennai.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Hazaar thanks to Kiruba's blog, On a lovely day I met Rahul, Shashank and Sriram, three friendly & motivated guys at The Royal Enfield Showrroom cum Office at Besant Nagar, Chennai.After ensuring my identity, they parted with a brand new Royal Enfield Thunderbird (with some petrol filled in its tank!!) to ride happily for one whole day (& night too).Thunderbird, a cousin of my dream machine Royal Enfield Bullet (Gazzat ki savari) has the gear shift on the left hand(leg) side and break on the right unlike the Bullet (like most other bikes).The front wheel has disk break and the rear the usual drum break. This bike had five forward gears to make an entry level car feel shy. Low seat, conveniently placed handlebar are the special features gaining superiority even over the Bullet. A heavy bike loaded with a 350 CC engine with awesome power made me feel like the boss when I hit the road. Due to its great design the weight of the bike could be little felt.For the rugged nature of the bike, gear shift were comparitively smoother. The front panel had a tachometer,a speedometer, an Odometer and a trip meter. I was surprised to see the black panel near the keyhole comeup live when I turned on the indicators. The dull black finish of the panel even suppressed the presence of an electric panel underneath- really cute.As far as the riding, I could reach 90 KMPH in an empty road, with my wife screaming from the pillion I didnt have guts to pull the throttle any further. The greatness of this bike is not just in the speed you can achieve but in the power it has in its chest to pull. I was able to overtake a MTC bus being in the 4th gear with ease that too in Pondy Bazaar area. That whole day I spent mostly on road. I had a great exciting time with the machine and had to give it back the next day.When I was a kid, I used to call the Bullet as 'budu budu' after the exhilarating sound it makes but Thunderbird comes with a new kind of exhaust so the familiar sound is missing. Bullet and Thunderbird are no doubt Hummers among bikes in India.People wanting to have a similair experience may get in touch with these friends at Royal Enfield office.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Court room humour get passed on from generation to generation among lawyers. Here is one which I liked to be very hilarious. This happenned during the English regime,The Climate of Madras, sometimes due to the high degree of humididty becomes unbearably hit in the middle of the day (even in those days). It is difficult for judges somewhat advanced in age to struggle against the soporific effect of having to sit in the same place and listening to the drone of long arguments. These days it is called the graveyard hourEardley Norton (A senior advocate of those days, Norton Street in Mandaveli is named after him) was arguing a first appeal in which the questions involved were of a dry and uninteresting charecter which even a Norton could not make lively.Chief Justice. Sir John Wallis was hearing the case. Norton went on citing decisions and reading out long passages from them. While so Norton noticed that Sir John Wallis had slipped into a quiet nap. And the Duffdar (the guy who calls names of the parties thrice in movies but in real courts his job is something else and he does not stand behind the judge holding a stick during the hearings) of the court was also enjoying his nap sitting and leaning against the dias; this made Norton irritated.Norton suddenly pushed down the entire pile of books which fell down on the wooden floor with a loud thump. The sleeping Duffdar shot up from his sleep and so also the chief justice who woke up with a jerk"I am sorry, my Lord" said Norton. "why, what is the matter Mr. Norton" asked the Chief Justice."oh! Nothing my Lord" said Norton "it is only the impertinence of that Duffdar to think that he can go to sleep in open court, just as if he is also a Judge.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

In law it is always the intention to commit an offence which is punishable and the mere act as such is not punishable unless it is done with criminal intention.I recently came across a learned advocate arguing in the court that his client who was caught picking pocket, did not gain even twenty rupees from his victim and so he be treated with mercy. The judge immediately said "Your client has been twice unfortunate" and proceeded to sentence the accused.

Monday, June 06, 2005

These are the guiding priciples, the basic tenets of Law. The most important of the principles of Natural Justice is 'Audi Alterm Partem' that is 'No man can be condemned unheard'. This is an universal principle.Governments before passing any order that could be detrimental to anyone shall give that person an opportunity to putforth his case before proceeding against him. Similairly the employers before passing any order affecting their employee shall give the employee concerned an opportunity (by way of show cause notices and departmental enquiries etc.,). Failure to afford an opportunity of being heard will result in the order being set aside and even compesation in certain cases.What I have said here of Governments and Employers are just examples and the principle of 'Audi Altern Partem' is not limited to these examples but apply to everybody including the courts (although no one can seek compensation in the rare event of a violation of the principles of natural justice by the courts)Hence forth if you want to call someone a fool provide him an opportunity to show cause why he shouldnt be called as such.